(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a housing for a liquid crystal display module (LCM), and more particularly to a housing that can secure a liquid crystal display panel firmly to prevent undesirable vibration.
(2) Description of the Related Arts
Referring now to FIG. 1, a conventional LCM 100 includes an upper housing 120, a lower housing 130, an LCD panel 150, and a backlight module 140. The LCD panel 150 is stacked on the backlight module 140 as illustrated in FIG. 1.
It is well known that the LCD panel 150 is designed to be secured inside the lower housing 130 but leaving enough room for the convenience of assembling the LCM 100. Referring to FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C, the conventional structure provides a plurality of dent-in leaf springs 132 along the side walls of the lower housing 130 to be elastically deflected outwards by the LCD panel 150 while in assembly. Based on the design as illustrated in FIG. 2A, force F1 resulted from the deformation of the leaf spring 132 can form clamping forces to firmly retain the LCD panel 150 inside the lower housing 130.
However, the aforesaid housing structure has the following disadvantages:
1. As illustrated in FIGS. 2B and 2C, while the LCD panel 150 is positioned in the lower housing 130, the friction between the sidewall of the LCD panel 150 and the leaf springs 132 may leave some scrapings on the surface of the backlight module 140 and thus cause undesirable results.
2. Moreover, when the LCD panel 150 is mounted to the lower housing 130 as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, improper handling of the LCD panel 150 may damage the LCD panel 150 or break the leaf springs 132.
3. As shown in FIG. 2C, the leaf springs 132 can only provide lateral force to the LCD panel 150. It cannot prevent the vertical vibration of the LCD panel 150.
Another approach, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, provides a plurality of protrusive ribs 134 on the inner surface of the side walls of the lower housing 130 so as to slide and mount the LCD panel 150 into the lower housing 130. The protrusive ribs 134 can secure the LCD panel 150 tightly in the LCD panel 150 and prevent it from vertical or horizontal vibration.
However, this approach still has some drawbacks. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the protrusive ribs 134 can be easily scraped and damaged by the LCD panel 150 when being pushed into the housing. When applying this approach to hold the LCD panel 150 firmly in position, the size of the lower housing 130 and the protrusive ribs 134 must be precisely measured to ensure that the protrusive ribs 134 provide enough lateral forces for securing the LCD panel 150 without creating assembly difficulty.
Hence, there are still problems remained to be resolved in the conventional techniques for mounting the LCD panel.